Common Assessments: Ohio Makes Its Choice

Little by little, states have been deciding which common-assessment approach to go with: Will it be the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium?

As we've told you, most states have chosen one or the other assessment consortium by now. A few, however, have insisted on being polygamous, maintaining membership in both consortia until they decide which approach is best for them. Ohio, until last week, had been one of the polygamous states.

The states that have kept feet in both consortia have had to do so as "advisory" or "participating" states, which means they can participate in conversations about the testing systems, but not set policy. Becoming a "governing" member of a consortium—as Ohio has now done with PARCC—means a state gets the full monty of privileges, including a voice in test design.

Six states are still participating in both consortia: Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Kentucky, and South Carolina. Wyoming is participating—but not governing—in SMARTER Balanced. Five states are not participating in either group: Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

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